Disclaimer: I rec’d a review copy of this book, with no other compensation, as part of the publisher’s Book Sneeze program. The following review is my honest opinion of this work of fiction.

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I haven’t read much fiction lately, but this thriller, A Matter of Trust, sounded interesting. The basic story-line is that Mia Quinn, recently widowed with two children (a 14yo son and a 4yo daughter), has to go back to work at the King County (Seattle) Prosecutor’s office full-time for financial reasons. She immediately gets involved in the murder of her friend, fellow prosecutor Colleen Miller. The method of killing is similar to another case — the long-unsolved case of another prosecutor, Stan Slavich. Since Mia knew both Stan and Colleen, she is assigned the case, along with a former nemesis, police detective Charlie Colson. The story evolves from there.

A peripheral plot, which Charlie also helps Mia investigate, is about a young teen who commits suicide due to physical and cyber-bullying. This tangential plot is a bit in the way of the main story, but it does end up tying into the overall theme of trust by the end of the book. I would have preferred that Wiehl had omitted this sub-plot and focused more on Mia, her family and her colleagues.

The plot line is good — with lots of twists and turns and surprises. Based on a true story of a murdered prosecutor (a case that is still unsolved), the ending is quite surprising … and yet, it makes sense. Wiehl plays “fair” with her reader by dropping hints throughout — but the killer is still a surprise.

I really liked this book because of the characters: Mia is well-drawn in the story and I’d like to see further books about her and her family. Having been widowed with little ones myself, Mia’s angst about working and home-life and balancing everything was very realistic. Her 14yos, Gabe, is a bit over-stereotyped as the moody teen, but some of what Wiehl has him say and do is very realistic. The daughter, 4 yo Brooke, has an issue that is dealt with but I got the impression the author doesn’t really know little ones.

My favorite character, though, was the cop. I really liked the character of Charlie, a cop with “a past” but a true “diamond in the rough”. A romance between Mia and Charlie in a future book would be great; didn’t much care for the other “possible”, Eli. He was a bit too simpy.

The characters of Mia’s co-workers and the suspects/witnesses are also interesting and well-written.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book for older teens/adults for it’s unique plotline (lots of great “ah ha” moments) but mostly for the characterization and well-written dialogue. I look forward to reading more “Mia Quinn” mysteries.